I started looking for a new belt kit as the issue kit
that I had previously never really fit me properly and I wasn’t quite able to
fit all of my kit in (and still be able to get it out!). In the past I had
tried using other guys stitched ‘airborne’ style webbing however I wasn't particularly comfortable with the fact that if a pouch ever broke in any way
that was you diffy a pouch. For this reason I had moved to a Molle belt set up
using mainly Issued Osprey, Blackhawk and Warrior pouches.

As I’m sure you are all aware the issue molle belt comes
in only 3 sizes. This is fine for a generic catch all belt for the entire army
however for most people it never quite fits right. British Tactical however are
amongst a pretty small number of companies that offer a decent selection of
sizes for their molle belts.With a choice of 3 heights (2, 3 and 4 rows of molle)
and 5 width (18, 20, 22, 24 and 26 molle column) sizes, as well as 3 buckle types,
whatever your body shape or size you will be able to find a base that will fit
you perfectly.

In the end I decided on the small (18 column) 4 row molle
belt with a roll pin buckle. The reason for this was I had found with my old 3
row molle belt the bottom of my pouches had a tendency to rub my legs raw where
they overhung the padding of the belt.

Straight out of the package the belt felt sturdy, well
made and with a decent amount of padding. The roll pin buckle and belt do their
job perfectly and has plenty of room for adjustment so if I am wearing multiple
layers there will be no problem with the belt fitting.

My only slight niggle with the belt is that there is no
way of locking it closed. If the buckle catches on anything the belt will undo
itself, this however is a simple fix with my unit tailor adding Velcro to the
belt to prevent this from happening.

British Tactical makes 2 types of ammunition pouch, double and triple magazine. Both pouches are exactly the same design the only
difference being the size. In reality I think that the double magazine pouch is
redundant, as with the addition of the adjustable elastic drawstring on the
side of pouch you can adjust the triple mag pouch to hold 2 or even only 1
magazine easily, for the extra £3 the triple pouch gives you much more
versatility.

To my mind there is no competition when it comes to these
pouches. They are made exceptionally well and easily customisable. The top flap
of the pouch is adjustable with Velcro on the inside of the pouch allowing you
to set the height of the flap, this allows you to hold several sizes of
magazine as well as smoke grenades and to a lesser degree a thermal mug!

The Large Stealth Admin Pouch by British Tactical is
designed to sit behind their large utility pouches or 2 ammo pouches. It has a
molle footprint of 4 wide by 4 high with an attachment for each loop it covers,
this gives the pouch an incredibly strong attachment to your molle belt and
allows you to double mount even 2 full ammo pouches without any risk of
failure.

The pouch itself only has a capacity of 0.65ltr, however
this is more than enough for my needs. I easily fit my commanders kit
(lumicolors, notepad , AATAMS and aide memoir cards) in this pouch, to my mind
this is ideal as I now have to carry less in my nirex and those essentials are
always to hand.

A brilliantly thought out pouch and one every commander
will find incredibly useful. Using the pouch added maybe 1.5 inch depth to my
ammo pouches. Having said that I’ve had no dramas with accessing my magazines
and in all honesty probably find it easier getting at them as it has put the
pouches directly at my hand when I stand normally.

The Medium Lidded Utility pouch is British Tacticals’ take
on the classic utility/water bottle pouch. Size is an issue for me here, I have
struggled with utility pouches that are too small to fit my emergency cooker,
metal mug and water bottle. This however is not an issue with these pouches, at
a massive 2.4ltr capacity, there is more than enough space to fit in all 3 of
these items as well as extra fuel and a main meal. For a pouch that has a molle
footprint of only 3 wide by 4 high, this is impressive. The pouch itself is
reinforced in the high wear areas around the opening and seams to give the
pouch longer life.

When you buy this you get the option of adding molle
loops to the side, front and top of the pouch. Many manufacturers do this with
their pouches and claim that this allows you to double mount other pouches
directly onto them, however I have found a lot of these fail in doing so.
Either the pouch doesn’t have enough molle loops or the strength of the pouch
is just not up to the job.

I don’t want to mount a lot onto the pouches however I do
need a place to attach my dump pouch. I went for just the side molle option for
an extra £1.20, which in the grand scheme of things is nothing. When I attached
my Warrior dump pouch to the Medium Lidded Utility I was pleased to find no
problem with the number of molle loops and the pouch itself was more than
strong enough to support the pouch even with me ripping it open
under contact.

For me the main concern with zipped pouches is the added
peace of mind they offer with regards to security. There is realistically no
way that you are losing anything out of these pouches unless you physically
forget to do the zip up. British Tactical have again excelled with their Medium
Zipped Utility, with large hardwearing zips and the same build quality as all
their other pouches you get a lot of pouch for your money. A slightly smaller
capacity than the Lidded version (2ltrs), the same molle footprint but
considerably lighter this is an ideal pouch for the less frequently used items
such as your Mine Extraction Kit and model kit.

Personally I have managed to fit 5 cylumes, PMEK, model
kit, blister/first aid kit, FFD and my rifle sling in this pouch with ease.
Inside there are 2 smaller pouches to help with kit separation and personal
admin. All the zipped pouches come with molle fitted on the front and sides to
allow you to double mount pouches, I don’t need anything mounted on them so
haven’t tried it.

Overall Impression

I have been incredibly impressed with British Tactical
both for the quality of their products and their impeccable customer service.
The day after placing my order I received an email from Dave Stewart thanking
me for my order and to check my belt size in order to ensure the molle belt fit
correctly. From the time I placed my order to when I actually received it was a
grand total of 11 days. Considering the website advises 7 days for the
manufacturing and dispatching for each order, the fact that I am currently
serving overseas and my order was sent via BFPO, I think this is a fantastic
turnaround time.

Overall I would recommend British Tactical products to
anyone I work with as it stands out head and shoulders above most of its
competition, granted they are slightly more expensive than other places (you
may end up spending £20 more with them), however the quality and service they
provide more than makes up for this.